Tax Sales Vs. Paying Taxes
Hello Everyone,
Excuse me if I do not know the difference but I must ask.
I would like to know if the what the difference is between getting a property throught a tax sale and paying the taxes on a house that is behide in there taxes that has not go to sale yet.
Also if they have paid part of the tax but not the other half does it still work the same way if I pay what is behide.
Thanks in advance!
Southernbg
The way it works in my area (Florida), is that there is an auction once a year for all the properties that have delinquent taxes. This auction is for tax certificates, and people are bidding on the opportunity to pay the taxes and make interest on them. The interest rate starts at 18%, and people bid down until the lowest interest rate wins. If no one bids, the county holds the certificate and charges the property owner 18% interest. If it sells, the homeowner will have to pay his taxes, plus whatever interest rate he was given from the auction.
If the owner doesnt pay the taxes back, then after two years the certificate holder can force an auction to sell the deed. Then people bid on the actual deed for the property, with the opening bid being enough to cover the tax liens. The money that is owes for taxes gets paid back from the sale of the deed.
Quote:
I would like to know what the difference is between getting a property through a tax sale and paying the taxes on a house that is behind in their taxes that has not gone to sale yet.
Also if they have paid part of the tax but not the other half does it still work the same way if I pay what is behide.
In our state (OK) when you get a property through a tax sale the tax has been unpaid for two tax years. When you purchase the deed at the sale (actually about 2.5 years later), you are entitled to begin the legal process to quiet title. After this process you can legally take possession of the property. Prior to that, you can take possession of the property, but anyone with any interest in it can protest and ultimately "pay you off" to reclaim their rights.
You can pay delinquent taxes on any property at any time. In OKLA you recieve a tax certificate. But until it has seasoned and is over two years old you can not do anything more than wait to see if you will collect interest or be able to successfully foreclose on the property and take possession (which is totally based on what the homeowner and lien holders do).
As for your second question, we can only purchase certificates for annual taxes, not portions unpaid. You need to check with your local assessor's office for the details in your area.
Hope that helps.